Conventionally, traveling automobiles receive air resistance generated by collision, friction, or the like with air (traveling wind). Since the air resistance significantly affects the power performance and fuel efficiency of the automobile, it is desirable to reduce the air resistance by air straightening realized by a vehicle body shape, a straightening plate, etc.
One example of the air resistance that affects the performance of the automobile while the automobile is traveling is air resistance generated by turbulence of side-surface flow at a vehicle side surface. This occurs since the traveling wind flowing into the front wheel housing through an underfloor of the vehicle front portion of the automobile is discharged toward a vehicle lateral side while being disturbed by the rotation of a front wheel.
Known as one example of a technology of suppressing the flow of the traveling wind into the front wheel housing is a deflector provided at a vehicle front side of the front wheel housing and projecting to a vehicle lower side of a lower end of a front bumper (see PTL 1).
According to the deflector of PTL 1, an unintentional load from a vehicle rear side may be applied to the deflector. One example of this is a case where the automobile moves backward in a state where an obstacle is present between the front wheel and the deflector.
Therefore, the deflector is required to have both rigidity capable of receiving a load such as the traveling wind from the vehicle front side and flexibility capable of releasing the unintended load from the vehicle rear side.